[1] The scandal's ability to push otherwise cautious and conservative lenders into increasingly risky practices has prompted some comparisons to later financial crises, including the 2007–2008 subprime mortgage crisis.
[2] The scandal involved the Allied Crude Vegetable Oil company in New Jersey in the United States, owned by Anthony "Tino" De Angelis, a former commodities broker.
[1] He discovered that he could obtain loans based upon Allied's fraudulently inflated inventory of salad oil.
In reality, the ships tanks contained only water, with a few feet of salad oil floating on top to trick inspectors.
De Angelis was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with the scandal and served seven years in prison, gaining his release in 1972.